mythlink.pl is a Perl script (written by Chris Peterson) for creating human-readable symlinks to MythTV recordings. Once you have created a directory of readable symlinks, the show can be archived with the link's name using appropriate copy or move commands.

Contents

Usage

Database and directory settings are automatically detected, so usage is as simple as:

mythlink.pl --link [destination directory]

In the event that [destination directory] exists, mythlink.pl will first delete all symlinks underneath that directory and then begin creating new symlinks. This will remove symlinks to recordings that have since been deleted.

Note that when specifying --filename or --chanid and --starttime, deletion of old symlinks (other than the one for the specified file) is suppressed. Therefore, anyone using this script in a user job or with the event system should still run the script occasionally without the --filename<code> or <code>--chanid<code> and <code>--starttime<code> arguments to allow removal of links that referred to recordings since deleted.

Examples

creates links using the format [startdate]-[starttime]-[endtime]-[title]-[subtitle]

mythlink.pl --link /mnt/pretty --format '%T/%Y%m%d-%H%i-%eH%ei-%S'

creates links using the format [title]/[startdate]-[starttime]-[endtime]-[subtitle]

mythlink.pl --link /mnt/pretty --format '%U-%T-%Y%m%d-%H%i-%eH%ei-%S'

creates links using the format [recgroup]-[title]-[startdate]-[starttime]-[endtime]-[subtitle]

mythlink.pl --link /mnt/pretty --format '%C-%T-%Y%m%d-%H%i-%eH%ei-%S'

creates links using the format [category]-[title]-[startdate]-[starttime]-[endtime]-[subtitle]

mythlink.pl --link /mnt/pretty --format '%T-%oY%om%od-%S'

creates links using the format [title]-[original airdate]-[subtitle]

Using as a User Job

When used as a User Job, mythlink.pl will be executed when the recording ends, and can be configured such that it only creates a link for the new recording. To use the script as a User Job, specify the --chanid and --starttime arguments in addition to any other desired arguments and it will create a link only for the new recording:

Note: You will also need to run mythlink.pl separately to remove old symlinks. See Usage.

Using with MythTV System Events

When using the script with MythTV System Events, mythlink.pl can be executed as soon as the recording begins, using the Recording started event. To use the script with MythTV System Events, specify the --chanid and --starttime arguments in addition to any other desired arguments, and it will create a link only for the new recording:

Note: You will also need to run mythlink.pl separately to remove old symlinks. See Usage.

Help Output

mythlink.pl usage:
options:
--dest [destination directory]
Specify the directory for the links. If no pathname is given, links will
be created in the show_names directory inside of the current mythtv data
directory on this machine. eg:
/var/video/show_names/
WARNING: ALL symlinks within the destination directory and its
subdirectories (recursive) will be removed.
--chanid chanid
Create a link only for the specified recording file. Use with --starttime
to specify a recording. This argument may be used with the event-driven
notification system's "Recording started" event or in a post-recording
user job.
--starttime starttime
Create a link only for the specified recording file. Use with --chanid
to specify a recording. This argument may be used with the event-driven
notification system's "Recording started" event or in a post-recording
user job.
--filename absolute_filename
Create a link only for the specified recording file. This argument may be
used with the event-driven notification system's "Recording started" event
or in a post-recording user job.
--live
Include live tv recordings.
default: do not link live tv recordings
--format
default: %T %- %Y-%m-%d, %g-%i %A %- %S
%T = Title (show name)
%S = Subtitle (episode name)
%R = Description
%C = Category
%U = RecGroup
%hn = Hostname of the machine where the file resides
%c = Channel: MythTV chanid
%cn = Channel: channum
%cc = Channel: callsign
%cN = Channel: channel name
%y = Recording start time: year, 2 digits
%Y = Recording start time: year, 4 digits
%n = Recording start time: month
%m = Recording start time: month, leading zero
%j = Recording start time: day of month
%d = Recording start time: day of month, leading zero
%g = Recording start time: 12-hour hour
%G = Recording start time: 24-hour hour
%h = Recording start time: 12-hour hour, with leading zero
%H = Recording start time: 24-hour hour, with leading zero
%i = Recording start time: minutes
%s = Recording start time: seconds
%a = Recording start time: am/pm
%A = Recording start time: AM/PM
%ey = Recording end time: year, 2 digits
%eY = Recording end time: year, 4 digits
%en = Recording end time: month
%em = Recording end time: month, leading zero
%ej = Recording end time: day of month
%ed = Recording end time: day of month, leading zero
%eg = Recording end time: 12-hour hour
%eG = Recording end time: 24-hour hour
%eh = Recording end time: 12-hour hour, with leading zero
%eH = Recording end time: 24-hour hour, with leading zero
%ei = Recording end time: minutes
%es = Recording end time: seconds
%ea = Recording end time: am/pm
%eA = Recording end time: AM/PM
%py = Program start time: year, 2 digits
%pY = Program start time: year, 4 digits
%pn = Program start time: month
%pm = Program start time: month, leading zero
%pj = Program start time: day of month
%pd = Program start time: day of month, leading zero
%pg = Program start time: 12-hour hour
%pG = Program start time: 24-hour hour
%ph = Program start time: 12-hour hour, with leading zero
%pH = Program start time: 24-hour hour, with leading zero
%pi = Program start time: minutes
%ps = Program start time: seconds
%pa = Program start time: am/pm
%pA = Program start time: AM/PM
%pey = Program end time: year, 2 digits
%peY = Program end time: year, 4 digits
%pen = Program end time: month
%pem = Program end time: month, leading zero
%pej = Program end time: day of month
%ped = Program end time: day of month, leading zero
%peg = Program end time: 12-hour hour
%peG = Program end time: 24-hour hour
%peh = Program end time: 12-hour hour, with leading zero
%peH = Program end time: 24-hour hour, with leading zero
%pei = Program end time: minutes
%pes = Program end time: seconds
%pea = Program end time: am/pm
%peA = Program end time: AM/PM
%oy = Original Airdate: year, 2 digits
%oY = Original Airdate: year, 4 digits
%on = Original Airdate: month
%om = Original Airdate: month, leading zero
%oj = Original Airdate: day of month
%od = Original Airdate: day of month, leading zero
%% = a literal % character
* The program start time is the time from the listings data and is not
affected by when the recording started. Therefore, using program start
(or end) times may result in duplicate names. In that case, the script
will append a "counter" value to the name.
* A suffix of .mpg or .nuv will be added where appropriate.
* To separate links into subdirectories, include the / format specifier
between the appropriate fields. For example, "%T/%S" would create
a directory for each title containing links for each recording named
by subtitle. You may use any number of subdirectories in your format
specifier.
--separator
The string used to separate sections of the link name. Specifying the
separator allows trailing separators to be removed from the link name and
multiple separators caused by missing data to be consolidated. Indicate the
separator character in the format string using either a literal character
or the %- specifier.
default: '-'
--replacement
Characters in the link name which are not legal on some filesystems will
be replaced with the given character
illegal characters: \ : * ? < > | "
default: '-'
--underscores
Replace whitespace in filenames with underscore characters.
default: No underscores
--rename
Rename the recording files back to their default names. If you had
previously used mythrename.pl to rename files (rather than creating links
to the files), use this option to restore the file names to their default
format.
Renaming the recording files is no longer supported. Instead, use
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/mythfs.py to create a FUSE file system that
represents recordings using human-readable file names or use mythlink.pl to
create links with human-readable names to the recording files.
--verbose
Print debug info.
default: No info printed to console
--help
Show this help text.

Perl prerequisites

mythrename.pl requires the Perl modules:

Net::UPnP::QueryResponse

Net::UPnP::ControlPoint.

Note: You should only do the following "manual" install if your distro does not provide a package for the modules.

In Gentoo and other Linux distros you can install these by running "cpan" at a terminal, most likely as root. Answer the prompts that follow, then type

install Net::UPnP::ControlPoint
install Net::UPnP::QueryResponse

then run mythrename.pl either as a user with proper user:group permissions at a terminal or use the same command shown below as a "job" under mythtv-setup.

Location

mythlink.pl is a contributed script. Various distro file locations are below:

Ubuntu 10.04:

/usr/share/doc/mythtv-backend/contrib/user_jobs/mythlink.pl

Tips

If you have previously run the mythrename.pl command and changed your recording file names, you should change them back using: